


Hey There, Iron Man

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Amputee Bucky Barnes, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Happy Ending, Soldiers, War Veteran Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-05-25 20:53:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14985377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: She slid into the seat next to him, despite this cafe being mostly empty. She didn't seem perturbed that he was a soldier."Hey there, Iron Man. What are you doing down here all alone?"





	Hey There, Iron Man

He'd joined when he was seventeen, a Reservist first, then a full Corpsman when he came of age. He walked into the 107th with Steve and Peggy right beside him and never looked back. This was the life for him, and they thrived together. 

When the opportunity to go Special Ops came up, all three of them applied and wound up in the Howling Commandos, Steve at the helm. He was a good Captain and better tactician, his own beatings in the street more than enough encouragement. But even teams like theirs had bad missions, and this last one had been one of them. 

When they had returned, Peggy had walked right up to the Colonel and stuck a filth-covered finger in his chest. 

"You owe us three months for that shitstorm." She stated, no room for argument.

Sure as her word, they got that leave. The Howie's had gone off with Steve and Peggy to tell their family about their marriage and to celebrate with Sarah Rogers. He'd been by to visit his own family, but he just really wanted somewhere quiet that didn't ring of gunshots and shouted orders. 

So, he wound up at a cafe frequented by base-bound soldiers that was quiet and calm enough. Some students loitered, but they weren't likely to cause trouble. 

"Coffee's cheap and we're near MIT." The barista, Bruce, had explained. "I'm attending uni myself, actually."

"Good for you." He toasted the man just to watch him smile, then took his coffee to the window bar to watch the world spin. 

The soft chime sounded and a pretty thing walked in, an AC/DC quarter sleeve tucked haphazardly into her shorts. She laughed with Bruce and took her coffee. 

She slid into the seat next to him, despite this cafe being mostly empty. She didn't seem perturbed that he was a soldier. 

"Hey there, Iron Man. What are you doing down here all alone?"

"On break." He admitted. His tags were hanging out of his shirt, he realized, despite his mostly-civilian dress. 

She nodded. "Middle East?"

"Africa, actually." He winced. "Breaking up slave rings and pre-empting genocides."

"Badass." She replied, offering a charming smile and an outstretched hand. "Name's Tony."

He took it. "Bucky."

She glanced down at his tags. "Not James?"

He shook his head with a little laugh. "Nah. Only my mom calls me James."

"Only my mom called me Antonia." She made a face and he chuckled again. "How long you down here for?"

"'Nother three months. Got back yesterday."

"That so?" She nudged his shoulder. "Well, I'm here on scholarship, so maybe we'll get to see more of each other."

"Maybe."

"If you frequent this cafe, you'll see a lot of me." She sipped her coffee. "I practically live here. Coffee's cheap and it's always open. Beautiful."

"Not a resident, then?"

"Nah. I'm from Oregon. Only down here because they called me with a full scholarship offer."

He blinked in surprise. "Who did?"

She shrugged. "MIT."

"Holy shit."

"I guess."

They stayed there, just talking, long enough that Steve called and asked him out to dinner. 

"You gotta run?" She asked, masking her disappointment pretty well.

"Just my buddy asking about food."

"Don't let me keep you."

"Well, I turned him down, so what if you and I find a place to grab a bite to eat?"

She grinned cheekily. "Are you hitting on me, Sargent Barnes?"

"Only all day, doll."

"Then yeah."

On their way out, he tossed Bruce a ten dollar tip. The barista gave him a thumbs up and a grin. 

* * *

"Have I mentioned yet how hot you are?" She asked on their walk back to her place. 

"Not directly, though your hinting wasn't subtle."

"Good, 'cause I'm not either." She stopped out front of her duplex's door, staring boldly up at him. "I get that the soldier thing is difficult, but I would really like to see you again. Even if I'm just a stop-gap. Doesn't have to mean strings."

"How about we decide it as it comes? For all you know, I might be shitty in bed."

She snorted good-naturedly. "I doubt it, but it is possible."

"I'd like to see you again too." He cupped her face, twisting some of that beautiful hair in his roughened fingers.

"How adverse are you to sex on the first date?"

He laughed, startled. "Let me at least take you out to a movie first."

She shrugged. "You busy tomorrow?"

"Uh, no?"

"How's tomorrow night, then?"

He smiled. "You're really forward."

"I know what I like and what I want." She stepped closer, tilting her head back to meet his gaze. "And who I want."

"I'll see you tomorrow night, then."

She pulled him down into a filthy, promising kiss that left him dizzy and half-hard. She slipped her number into his jeans' back pocket, getting a not inconsiderable handful of his ass. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, soldier boy." She winked and vanished into her duplex.

* * *

"Did you pick this movie because you knew it would be abandoned?"

"I picked it because I appreciate a good romantic comedy." His hands slid up her waist, letting her push the armrests up and out of their way. 

"Not just because you want in my pants?"

He smirked, pulling her closer to sit more fully on his lap. "That just seems a rather enjoyable side-benefit of the movie."

"What can I say? I'm an overachiever." She wound her fingers into his recently-cut hair, letting the curls tangle. She rocked down onto him like she was riding a horse, which might not be far off. She grew up in small town in Oregon, so who's to say?

"Oh yeah, damn." He struggled, putting his quads into his own grind. 

"Oh, not really lacking yourself, huh." Her hand slid down his chest muscles and she bit into her shoulder to stop her moan from reaching the elderly couples down near the front. "Fuck, you're hotter than I thought."

"Darlin', you better hope you've got some good stamina."

"Takes a lot to wear me out."

He smirked against her ear, kicking the shell. "I accept your challenge. But we'll have to take this somewhere else if you expect me to follow through."

"I live alone on the top floor of my duplex, so there's plenty of desks, walls and beds to take me against."

He bit her hard enough to bruise, her moan pushing it. "I won't have to take. You'll give it to me on your own."

"What makes you think that?" She challenged. 

He snaked his tongue into her mouth, stroking confidently over her tongue and teeth. "Because I eat out as good as I kiss."

She squirmed, swivelling her hips on his cock and gripping the back of his neck. "Prove it to me in your car and you can do whatever you want to me."

His grin was wolfish as he stood up, still holding her. She  _eep_ ed, but was a little shaky when he set her down. 

"Let's go." He whispered against her. "I know a great place for a demonstration."

She shivered but took his hand and followed. 

The drive was quiet, the radio off. Her squirming kept distracting him, the way her hands were buried between her thighs and that he couldn't look away long enough to figure out what those movements meant in the dark. He was almost afraid to, too - if she was doing what he thought she was doing, he was definitely going to crash this car. 

It wasn't long before they were outside the city limits, shoreside. They were a little above the water, but it was quiet and blocked by foliage. He'd only been here with the boy he'd been seeing before deployment, but he was more than eager to make some more pleasant memories. He unbuckled his seat belt and turned a molten gaze on her. 

"Get on the hood of the car."

She bit her lip, smirking as she slid out of the Camero and up onto the hood, spreading herself out on it wantonly. He had to take a moment to collect himself in the driver's seat before he got out too, rounding the warm metal and taking her in. 

She was splayed out, unselfconscious, with her hair a dark halo around her that highlighted the rich teal of the car. She was in denim shorts again, heeled Converse and a thin zip-up hoodie in a deep violet. He shirked his own leather jacket, licking his lips. She smirked. 

"Gonna make good on that promise? Those muscles certainly are nice, but that just feels like a distraction."

"Won't be a distraction when you come rubbing your clit against my abs." He replied. She hissed and began squirming, obviously more wound up than she was letting on. "So, tell me, doll. How do you want me to go about this?"

She sat up on her elbows, spreading her legs some with a raised eyebrow. "How else do you eat out a lady?"

He chuckled. "There are lots of ways, darlin'. I wanna know whether you want this soft and sweet with a long orgasm that'll leave you shivering or a rough and hard orgasm that will make you spasm and lock up."

She hissed, head rolling back on her shoulders and thighs rubbing together. "Fuck. You said you were going to prove yourself. Make me shake, and if you can do that, I'll give you all the time in the world to take me apart."

He sucked in a breath, laying his jacket down on the ground to cushion his knees. He caressed the her shins, cupping the back of her knees and pulling her closer. She let herself be pulled, smirking to herself. He grinned back, equally smug, her ass hanging just over the grill. 

"I'm going to have  _such_ a good night, doll."

"This a thing for you?"

"Nothin' makes me come harder or faster than my partner's pleasure." He dropped to his knees, pressing fluttery kisses to the supple flesh of her hard thighs.

"'Partner'?"

He nipped the hemline of her shorts. "Problem?"

Her fingers curled into his hair. "Absolutely not. One of my best lays was a girl named Carrie." She propped herself up on her free arm and tightened her grip, pulling his head up to face her. "Wanna see if you can top her?"

"Lesbian?"

"Yup."

"Ooh, a challenge then." He purposefully leaned forward, pulling against her grip to nose her clothed mound. "I've got a dexterous tongue, jaw stamina and no gag reflex. I'm every dame and fella's dream."

"I'm not seeing any of that in action."

"Doubting me already? But we've just met!"

She snickered. "Carrie was a  _fantastic_ girl. Never had head better. Grade-A lesbian, the kind Sappho would be envious of. I don't doubt you're a beautiful bisexual cocksucker - fuck, would I like to see that - but dining out requires a more delicate technique."

He unbuttoned and unzipped her shorts, wiggling them down her hips. She raised them a little to help him, settling back down easily. With them sitting on the car next to her, he pulled her legs over his shoulders, arms sliding under her thighs to grip her waist and feel up her back. 

"I can be all the delicate you need, sweetheart." He pressed a soft kiss over panties. She chuckled breathlessly, petting down the back of his neck. 

"Get to it then, cowboy."

She had just enough time to enjoy his smirk before he shuffled closer, rubbing his cheeks against the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. He'd cleaned up his facial hair, but kept some stubble because he knew how roguish and handsome it made him look. It was coming in handy now, pairing like fine wine with his thick kisses and gentle bites. 

"I didn't realize I'd invited you to sandpaper my thighs."

He smirked up at her, blue eyes shining brightly. "Darlin', my goal is for you to be feeling me for weeks. Gotta leave an impression if I intend to ever see you again."

"Not even at the main course and asking for seconds. How greedy."

He pressed his nose into the inner crease of her hip, following the playful caress with a series of fluttery kisses. He sat up, kissing up to a visible part of her pelvis and sucking a thick, dark mark there. 

"Shithead." She laughed, breathless. 

"Oh, give me time." He ducked back down to nip very carefully at her panties, kittenish licks adding to the wetness lining the cotton already. She was breathing harder already, which he counted as a win. He pressed his tongue flat against her panties, sucking lightly, then nodding his head to rub against her folds. 

She mewled in his hold. "C'mon Sarge, I though you had yourself a mission to complete."

"Like roleplay, huh?"

"No, you're actually a Sargent." 

He huffed a laugh, putting some strength into his grip and tearing her panties apart. She yelped, then groaned low in her throat. 

"You're totally paying for replacements."

"I'll buy you two just so I can rip another pair."

"Fuck, you're dangerous."

He kissed her bare, licking up all that wonderful wetness. He didn't really understand why other men didn't like to do this - the way she squirmed, panted, clenched, pulled at his hair was the best affirmation of his masculinity he'd ever found. Her pleasure relied solely on his actions, and without having to be told, he got her there. 

He snaked a hand around her hips, spreading her lips and wrapping his lips delicately around her clit. Soft sucks were set against hard grinds of his tongue, twisting and exploring the wonderful little nub. Both of her hands were in his hair, pulling hard enough to smart. She was slowly curling in on herself, tense with anticipation. He grinned against her, switching to hard sucks and teasing flicks. She clenched hard, almost sitting up as she gasped and froze, her orgasm taking her entirely by surprise. He eased off, if only so he'd get to keep his hair. She collapsed agianst the hood, her breatihng coming back to her in a rush.

"Not even a finger." She panted. "I am impressed."

"Did you think that was all of it?"

She didn't get the chance to object. 

|||

"I can't believe you came in your jeans from eating me out on the hood of your car. And you're hard again."

He ground against her leg in the elevator, kissing up her neck, already fairly covered in bites and marks. She'd gotten most of them when he fingered her to her third orgasm, practically fucking her thigh at the same time. It was hotter than she wanted to admit to have him bent over her, working those incredible biceps hard and blocking out the sky with the breadth of his shoulders. Hot enough to have her ready to go again when they got back to her apartment. 

"I can't believe you didn't believe me when I said that I could."

"Well, I figured you meant with a helping hand down there, not just straight up, hands-free orgasm."

"How pretty you are moaning certainly helped."

"Dick."

"Wait until we're behind closed doors. That orgasm is going to take you more than a few minutes to breathe through."

Her legs tightened in anticipation. 

| | |

By the time his hips stilled, they were both trembling hard, barely able to breathe through the lock of their bodies. 

"Oh God." He managed, head dropping into the curve of her shoulder, littered with hickeys.

"Fuck." She breathed in return, coming back to herself sooner and petting down his back. It took a considerable amount of effort not just to drop on her, but fall to her side, curling up against her. 

"Live up to your expectations?" He panted, stroking down her stomach. 

"A performance like that? I'm surprised you're not married yet."

He chuckled. "I was inspired tonight."

"Mmm. Glad to be of service." She rolled over so they were facing each other, their hair matted to their foreheads with sweat. 

"Can I ask to see you again?"

She kissed his nose. "Took the words right out of my mouth, Sarge."

He groaned. "Keep calling me that and I won't be able to hear it from the men."

"I'll have to work harder if I haven't tainted it yet."

He rolled on top of her just to be contrary. 

"You're too heavy." She whined, but threaded her fingers through his hair. 

"Mmm. But I like it here." He smirked. 

"In the interest of candid honesty which has gotten me this far," She scratched lightly across his shoulders, sending a pleasant ripple across his skin, "I like you being here. "

"That an invite to stay here the night?"

"Yeah."

"Sweet." He settled down on top of her, his head tucked under her chin. "Goodnight."

She snorted. "At least half your body weight has to move, big guy."

* * *

"We've hardly seen you, man." Dum-Dum complained. "It's been almost a month!"

Peggy studied him closely for a moment. Her family was back in Britain - not that she was on good terms with them anyway - so she had largely been with Steve. "He's got the look of a man well fucked."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You know what Bucky's 'just fucked' face looks like?"

"It's different than his normal face, isn't it?" She challenged in return. "Besides, marrying you was basically marrying him as well."

Dum-Dum laughed boisterously. "Gotcha, Cap'n."

Steve rolled his eyes, but refocused on Bucky. "Is she right?"

"She's absolutely stunning." A grin broke out on his face. "My God, Stevie, I've never thought I would find a soulmate, but she might very well be it."

"How long have you been seeing her?" Logan asked. 

"She sat down and started to flirt with me the second day home, when I went for that walk." Dreamy recollection overtook him. "Goddamn."

"Well?" Peggy pressed, unimpressed. 

"Okay, so she's beautiful and amazing and she's the smartest person I've ever met." He began, starry-eyed. "She's got brown-black hair that matches her eyes, olive skin and the sassiest cock to her hips. She's twenty, in MIT, set to be summa cum laude. And her body," he was practically salivating, "fuck me. She's got all these muscles you can't see through her shirt and her thighs are made of steel. Her voice, too, is low and smooth, like high-class whiskey. She's so smart. Fuck, she was telling me about ideas she has for her final project, her graduation exam, and I couldn't understand half of the shit she was talking about. She's already got a couple of offers from big weapons manufacturers to build for them in R&D. She's just . . . She's so down to earth, too. She's not hung up on her intelligence and she's so easy to talk to."

"She sounds lovely."

"She is." He breathed. "If she wasn't in class right now, I'd have her down here to meet you guys."

Logan chuckled. "So can we expect you to be a ghost the rest of our time off?"

"Probably. I wanna get as much time with her as I can. She's just so incredible."

"I'm glad you're happy." Steve smiled. "Hopefully we'll get to meet her one day."

"I'll try to arrange something. Sorry in advance if I can't."

"As long as we'll see her eventually."

| | |

"My leave ends in a few weeks."

She looked up from her blueprints. "Yeah, I guess it does."

He pulled her close, kissing her hair. "I want to know where we're at before I go."

"This is why you've been sleeping restlessly, isn't it?"

"I've been restless?"

She nodded. "Only calm down when you've got a hold of me."

"Yeah, I suppose so." 

She turned to face him more properly. "Well, this has been a lot of fun. I don't exactly want to lose you, but I understand if the long-distance thing won't work."

"Babe, I'm asking you because I knew long-distance relationships were part of the job when I signed up. I don't want to lose you now either, but it would suck a whole lot more to get a letter when I'm overseas telling me you can't do it."

She looked away, back to the blueprint for a minute. She wasn't good with emotional stuff - her parents were to thank for that, most of the reason she chose to move across the country in the first place - then sighed. "Do they screen your mail?"

"Like, open it?"

"Yeah."

"No. Just x-ray packages."

She flopped down on his legs, kicking her blueprints off the bed. "I guess I'll have to break out the Polaroid camera. Gotta get you nudes somehow."

His eyebrows shot up. "You're going to send me pictures?"

"Duh. Sappy, romantic letters about how much I miss your heart, pictures for how much I miss your dick. Even split."

"Oh my God. I think I love you."

She tapped his nose playfully. "Just think?" She pulled him down by his dog tags for a sweet kiss. "I know I love you. I don't go to all this trouble just for a lay, no matter how stellar."

"I guess I'll have to brush up on my erotic writing skills, because I won't have access to a camera."

"Can't wait."

"For now, though," he hauled her up his body, laying back on her bed, "I've got a more practical exercise in mind."

| | | 

The night before he got deployed, they had the most intense sex he'd ever had the pleasure of. They cuddled together all through the night, awake and talking. When the sun rose, he showered and pulled on his fatigues, his suitcase by her door. His jeans, shirt, jacket and sweater were in a small pile from where they'd disrobed the night before. 

"This is the PO box you'll have to send the letters to. They get sorted and distributed from there." He said, handing her a business card. 

"Okay." She replied, setting it aside, then pulling him in for one last heartfelt kiss. She had class in an hour, won't be on the tarmac waving goodbye. She'd decided his mother deserved that time, the final send off. "It's gonna be so quiet without you."

"I know." He nuzzled her, beard burn on her neck. "Time will fly."

She petted down the back of his neck, his hair getting longer again. "Good luck, Iron Man."

"I'll see you soon, doll. Make sure to include a return address on those letters."

"I will."

She walked him down to his car in silence, watching him go in the cold hours of dawn. 

| | |

"Does she still write you?" Peggy asked. 

"Every weekend." Bucky smiled, his stack of papers and upside-down photos steadily growing. 

"That's a good sign." Some of the Howlies had been doubtful that his whirlwind romance would ever make it, but they were pushing seven months since his redeployment and she'd never missed a step. She'd even written him letters in advance sometimes, just to make sure. He missed her something terrible, writing her back as soon as he got the letters. She wrote him regardless of his responses, knowing full well that his missions could take weeks at a time, and radio silence didn't mean he didn't care. He always ended his letters with his thoughts of her, all the sappy domestic nonsense he wanted with her when he returned. 

"It is." He put his own pen down. "I take it you've come with a mission?"

"We leave in the day after tomorrow - Swiss Alps. We're boarding a train stolen from the Swiss out there with some of our Intel on it. Brass wants it back quickly and discreetly."

"Gotcha. As soon as I'm done writing, I'll check the ammo and rifles."

"Thanks Buck." She kissed his forehead. "Tell her we say hi."

He laughed. "I will."

* * *

"Tony."

_"Hey, Platypus. What's up?"_

"I've got some bad news."

* * *

He didn't really have memory of what happened. He remembered being on the train, that the passengers were more heavily armed than they originally planned, and a quip about rocket launchers in small spaces. 

Apparently, he had fallen. Caught the rocket with the left side of his body, then plummeted off the edge of the train. 

Wonderful. 

He'd been unconscious when they found him, three days later, fragments of his arm frozen around him in the Swiss snow. Apparently, with the hypothermia, he wasn't too far off from a snow-mummy himself. 

They'd flown him back out to US soil for surgery and recovery. 

"I have an offer for you, Sargent." Their Colonel said, standing at his bed. 

"Oh yeah?"

"There's a prototype hydrolic prosthetic we have recently gained access to. The creator has offered to modify the arm to your specifications, without cost."

"Hydrolic?"

"The arm has all the functions of your actual body part, except it can't feel. It's made of metal. Titanium."

"How does that even work?"

"I don't know, in all honesty. But I personally saw the demonstration, so it is functional. I do need your permission, because this is experimental."

"I'll do whatever I can to be functional again." He scowled, his hair falling in his face. "I can't even open Tony's letters anymore."

"Can't Steve open them for you?"

His smile was rueful. "She likes to send . . . sensitive information."

"Ah."

"Yeah. The kind of pick-me-up I could use, honestly."

"So, you'll do the arm?"

"Yeah. I'll give it a shot."

"I've recorded your audio confirmation. You can sign all the paperwork once you're back together."

"Sounds like a plan. How soon can I expect this?"

"Next day or so. You'll be under anaesthetic when we do the procedure."

"Okay."

"Be lucky I really like you, Barnes. I don't pull these kinds of favours for just anybody."

"What does that mean?"

"Get some rest. This is going to be hard on your body."

| | |

One surgery turned into two when the neurosurgeon got there. Waking up and finding what remained of his arm had been removed and replaced with a metal baseplate had been harrowing enough. Finding out the extent of him that had been replaced was killing him. 

"This might have been a mistake." He whispered.

Steve and Peggy gave him sympathetic smiles. "It'll be worth it. I met the engineer who made the arm. They've got only your best at heart."

"Intentions aren't always enough."

Peggy winced. 

"Oh well. I'm in it now, I guess." He went to roll his shoulder and pulled the baseplate. He hissed, clutching it. "Fuck. I just want this to be over."

"I know." Peggy said lowly. "You'll be taken care of, Bucky, we promise."

| | |

It took a month and a half for the baseplate to fuse to his shoulder, a month and a half he spent spiralling further and further down. He couldn't shower properly because the base plate would shock him, it was sensitive to the touch and the son's rough scarring was thick, red and puffy. He understood that he asked for this, had said he would, but this sucked. 

"The attachment surgery is today." Steve said lowly, 

"I know." He replied, staring off at the wall. He missed Tony something awful. What he wouldn't give to be just back on leave, even with an amputated arm, snuggled against her back and sleeping. It might suck more because he was close. The base wasn't that far from MIT, from where she would be showcasing her cumulative project. 

"Captain Rogers, I have to ask you to leave. We're putting the Sargent under now."

He nodded, giving Bucky's hand one last squeeze before he left. 

This was going to suck. 

| | |

He woke up with Peggy and Steve at his side, and without the customary ache he'd become intimate with over the last few months. Without thinking about it, he raised his left hand to run through his hair. Just when he was about to stop himself, he felt it catch. 

"Holy shit."

Peggy chuckled wetly, evidently nervous his reaction. 

The prosthetic was beautiful. Made entirely of shining titanium, the machine was a collection of sleek lines and effortless motion. There wasn't a whir or buzz to be found, the seams of his fingers so flawless it didn't even catch his hair. The plates in the arm shifted silently as he used it to sit up, elegant and refined. 

"The engineer that designed it will be by in a week and a half to explain it more fully. We told them about the baseplate and it turned out to be not drilled in far enough. She'll explain it better than I can." Steve said. 

"Am I allowed to train with it?"

"They want you to use your arm as you normally would, but immediately stop if you feel anything at all. The arm has no sensors, so if you're getting feedback, something's pulled in your shoulder."

"Understood."

"Right now, you have to sleep off the rest of the anaesthetic." Peggy said firmly.

"Yes, mom."

| | |

Exercise helped him fight back the depression, aggression helped him beat back how the others on base looked at his shining arm. But when he was alone, he couldn't stop running his hand over the smooth metal, the burnished beauty put into it. 

"You have a visitor." Peggy interrupted his thoughts. It was getting on in the evening, and his mother hadn't been told yet - both that he was on American soil and that he was technically an amputee. 

"Who?"

"Get your cyborg ass out and go see." She huffed, dismissive. 

He pulled on some proper clothes and his boots before meandering out to the meeting room, the only civilian-access part of the base. Peggy was waiting there already. 

"They've probably been caught up by Colonel Rhodes." She said when he entered. 

"Tardy asshole. I got dressed in actual clothes for this."

Peggy rolled her eyes. "Don't be so quick to judge."

He crossed his arms, sighing. 

"The Colonel also asked me to discuss your discharge with you."

"Discharge?" He was gobsmacked. "When did this happen?"

"You're an amputee." She said. 

He held up the metal appendage. "Then what the hell was all this for?"

"Because Colonel Rhodes saw an opportunity and took it." She frowned. "I'm not any happier about it than you are, trust me. But that arm is false, meaning it requires maintenance. The army can't staff someone to be your full-time mechanic."

"But I'm supposed to be able to without a job?" He snapped. 

"Don't you raise your voice to me, Barnes." She scowled. He backed down. "Deals have already been made on your behalf, as a thank you and attached to your pension. But your discharge has already been decided. Medical grounds, but with full honours and a Purple Heart."

"Great." He deadpanned.

The civilian door opened and shut, but he was too busy scowling at Peggy. 

"Hey there, Iron Man." 

He froze, scowl melting. Slowly, afraid it was an illusion, he turned to face her. 

Standing there in a  _Black Sabbath: Paranoid_ shirt, jeans and running shoes, was Tony in all her tiny glory. 

"Oh my God."

Her cocky attitude faltered, like she wasn't sure he wanted her there. He practically ran across the room, scoping her up in his arms and burying his face in her shoulder, the rich smell of leather, metal and coconut 

"How- How did you know? How did you get in? Who let you in?"

She pet through his lengthy hair, shoulder-length again. His beard was getting a little scruffy too. "Rhodey called me. I guess it doesn't take a genius to hear me waxing poetic about a 'Bucky' and you getting all dreamy over a 'Tony' to figure out we meant each other."

"Rhodey? You mean Colonel  _Rhodes_? You know my Colonel?"

"Grew up together." She snorted. "Stupid Platypus."

He pulled her head down to kiss her. "Fuck, I've never been so happy to see someone in my life."

"How are you liking the arm?"

"Saw that, didya?"

"Installed it too. Sorry about the plate, by the way. The surgeon didn't screw it in the way it was supposed to be. Too loose, which was why it hurt. I fixed it when Rogers mentioned it to me, and he said you've not felt any more pain."

"You . . . You're the engineer? Of the arm?"

She paused. "Yeah. Thanks for agreeing, by the way. Best success MIT has ever had."

"You heard from your friend that your boyfriend got his arm blown off. You got him to pull strings so you could build him an arm. You convinced your college to accept that as your final project. Just so that you could build me a prosthetic for free."

She blinked down at him. "Isn't that was connections are supposed to be for? To pull very specific favours from people when you need them? And for the record, I only used the arm for my MIT coursework. The more impressive thing is inside, powering the arm."

He set her down not because he wanted to, but because his love was overwhelming him and he was going to drop her at this rate. 

She took his arm, pointing out the little glowing triangle at the top of his shoulder. "That's a device I call the Arc Reactor. It's powered by an element I made. That arm will run long after your grandchildren are dead. Did you manage to read my letters? I'm going into clean energy. The Reactors, on a large scale, can effectively cancel out the need for fossil fuels. I've got a military development contract."

"I can't believe it." He muttered. "You're even more amazing than the last time I saw you."

She flushed immediately, ducking her head. "Not really."

"Tony." He tilted her head up. "Serious stop and think about all the crazy shit you just told me. Who else in the world gets a military development contract directly after graduating? You're a mad scientist and I don't think I can love you any more."

She brushed her fingers along the side of his face. 

"Peggy just told me I'm getting discharged." His lips twisted. 

"Well, I'm your mechanic, so don't feel too bad. I'll keep you as a househusband."

That surprised a laugh out of him. "Oh yeah?"

"Yup. It'll be beautiful."

"Have I mentioned yet that I love you?"

"Hard to say. I've got shitty hearing. You might have to repeat yourself a lot around me."


End file.
